Wisbech racer George Russell maintained his BRDC Formula 4 Championship lead with two podium finishes at Snetterton.

Cambs Times: George Russell.George Russell. (Image: Archant)

The 16-year-old ex-karting star took his first pole position in his Lanan Racing machine since moving into cars, before finishing third in the first two races and sixth in the third.

After nine of 24 rounds Russell, who has picked up three wins this season, is 21 points ahead of his closest challenger Raoul Hyman, of HHC Motorsport.

He said: “My main rival and I got the same amount of points over the weekend, so the most important thing is that I’ve maintained my advantage.

“And I’m happy that even though this is my first weekend without a win in F4, I’ve finished in the top six in all nine races.”

Russell earned pole for the first race but lost the lead at the second corner – a tight right-hand hairpin – when his main challenger tried to go around the outside and they collided.

That relegated Russell to second, and he lost another position on lap two. From then on, he fought to reclaim second, but was unable to find a way past.

The result put George sixth on the grid for the reversed-grid second race, but he shot up to third on the opening lap, passing two cars around the outside of the high-speed Riches and another at the hairpin.

After a safety car period, Russell tried to wrest second place, but ran wide and dropped to fourth before recovering to third.

Russell started the final race from fifth on the grid. Again he was on old tyres and lost a place at the start. Despite constant pressure to the car in front, he finished the race sixth.

The next round of the BRDC F4 Championship is at Oulton Park on July 19. Before then, Russell will be busy in Formula Renault action.

He will contest the Eurocup round this weekend at Moscow Raceway in Russia as a wildcard entry, then heads straight to the legendary Italian track of Monza for the next round of the Formula Renault ALPS series on July 5-6.